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Rousseau M, Oulavallickal T, Williamson A, Arcus V, Patrick WM, Hicks J. Characterisation and engineering of a thermophilic RNA ligase from Palaeococcus pacificus. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:3924-3937. [PMID: 38421610 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
RNA ligases are important enzymes in molecular biology and are highly useful for the manipulation and analysis of nucleic acids, including adapter ligation in next-generation sequencing of microRNAs. Thermophilic RNA ligases belonging to the RNA ligase 3 family are gaining attention for their use in molecular biology, for example a thermophilic RNA ligase from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum is commercially available for the adenylation of nucleic acids. Here we extensively characterise a newly identified RNA ligase from the thermophilic archaeon Palaeococcus pacificus (PpaRnl). PpaRnl exhibited significant substrate adenylation activity but low ligation activity across a range of oligonucleotide substrates. Mutation of Lys92 in motif I to alanine, resulted in an enzyme that lacked adenylation activity, but demonstrated improved ligation activity with pre-adenylated substrates (ATP-independent ligation). Subsequent structural characterisation revealed that in this mutant enzyme Lys238 was found in two alternate positions for coordination of the phosphate tail of ATP. In contrast mutation of Lys238 in motif V to glycine via structure-guided engineering enhanced ATP-dependent ligation activity via an arginine residue compensating for the absence of Lys238. Ligation activity for both mutations was higher than the wild-type, with activity observed across a range of oligonucleotide substrates with varying sequence and secondary structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan Rousseau
- School of Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
| | - Tifany Oulavallickal
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
| | - Adele Williamson
- School of Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
| | - Vic Arcus
- School of Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
| | - Wayne M Patrick
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
| | - Joanna Hicks
- Te Huataki Waiora School of Health, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
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Barbosa DF, Oliveira LS, Nachtigall PG, Valentini Junior R, de Souza N, Paschoal AR, Kashiwabara AY. cirCodAn: A GHMM-based tool for accurate prediction of coding regions in circRNA. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2024; 139:289-334. [PMID: 38448139 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2023.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Studies focusing on characterizing circRNAs with the potential to translate into peptides are quickly advancing. It is helping to elucidate the roles played by circRNAs in several biological processes, especially in the emergence and development of diseases. While various tools are accessible for predicting coding regions within linear sequences, none have demonstrated accurate open reading frame detection in circular sequences, such as circRNAs. Here, we present cirCodAn, a novel tool designed to predict coding regions in circRNAs. We evaluated the performance of cirCodAn using datasets of circRNAs with strong translation evidence and showed that cirCodAn outperformed the other tools available to perform a similar task. Our findings demonstrate the applicability of cirCodAn to identify coding regions in circRNAs, which reveals the potential of use of cirCodAn in future research focusing on elucidating the biological roles of circRNAs and their encoded proteins. cirCodAn is freely available at https://github.com/denilsonfbar/cirCodAn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denilson Fagundes Barbosa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Associado em Bioinformática (UFPR/UTFPR), Departamento Acadêmico de Computação (DACOM), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Cornélio Procópio, Paraná, Brazil; Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Santa Catarina (IFSC), Canoinhas, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Liliane Santana Oliveira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Associado em Bioinformática (UFPR/UTFPR), Departamento Acadêmico de Computação (DACOM), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Cornélio Procópio, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Pedro Gabriel Nachtigall
- Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada, CeTICS, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Rodolpho Valentini Junior
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Associado em Bioinformática (UFPR/UTFPR), Departamento Acadêmico de Computação (DACOM), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Cornélio Procópio, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Nayane de Souza
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Associado em Bioinformática (UFPR/UTFPR), Departamento Acadêmico de Computação (DACOM), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Cornélio Procópio, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Alexandre Rossi Paschoal
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Associado em Bioinformática (UFPR/UTFPR), Departamento Acadêmico de Computação (DACOM), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Cornélio Procópio, Paraná, Brazil
| | - André Yoshiaki Kashiwabara
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Associado em Bioinformática (UFPR/UTFPR), Departamento Acadêmico de Computação (DACOM), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Cornélio Procópio, Paraná, Brazil.
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3
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Sberna G, Maggi F, Amendola A. Virus-Encoded Circular RNAs: Role and Significance in Viral Infections. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:16547. [PMID: 38003737 PMCID: PMC10671809 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been the focus of intense scientific research to understand their biogenesis, mechanisms of action and regulatory functions. CircRNAs are single stranded, covalently closed RNA molecules lacking the 5'-terminal cap and the 3'-terminal polyadenine chain, characteristics that make them very stable and resistant. Synthesised by both cells and viruses, in the past circRNAs were considered to have no precise function. Today, increasing evidence shows that circRNAs are ubiquitous, some of them are tissue- and cell-specific, and critical in multiple regulatory processes (i.e., infections, inflammation, oncogenesis, gene expression). Moreover, circRNAs are emerging as important biomarkers of viral infection and disease progression. In this review, we provided an updated overview of current understanding of virus-encoded and cellular-encoded circRNAs and their involvement in cellular pathways during viral infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alessandra Amendola
- Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety Laboratories, National Institute for Infectious Diseases “L. Spallanzani” IRCCS, 00149 Rome, Italy; (G.S.)
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Liu Y, Takagi Y, Sugijanto M, Nguyen KDM, Hirata A, Hori H, Ho CK. Genetic and Functional Analyses of Archaeal ATP-Dependent RNA Ligase in C/D Box sRNA Circularization and Ribosomal RNA Processing. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:811548. [PMID: 35445080 PMCID: PMC9014305 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.811548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA ligases play important roles in repairing and circularizing RNAs post-transcriptionally. In this study, we generated an allelic knockout of ATP-dependent RNA ligase (Rnl) in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis to identify its biological targets. A comparative analysis of circular RNA reveals that the Rnl-knockout strain represses circularization of C/D box sRNAs without affecting the circularization of tRNA and rRNA processing intermediates. Recombinant archaeal Rnl could circularize C/D box sRNAs with a mutation in the conserved C/D box sequence element but not when the terminal stem structures were disrupted, suggesting that proximity of the two ends could be critical for intramolecular ligation. Furthermore, T. kodakarensis accumulates aberrant RNA fragments derived from ribosomal RNA in the absence of Rnl. These results suggest that Rnl is responsible for C/D box sRNA circularization and may also play a role in ribosomal RNA processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yancheng Liu
- Human Biology Program, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Yuko Takagi
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Milyadi Sugijanto
- Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | | | - Akira Hirata
- Department of Natural Science, Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Science, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Hori
- Department of Materials Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Japan
| | - C. Kiong Ho
- Human Biology Program, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- *Correspondence: C. Kiong Ho,
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Zucko D, Boris-Lawrie K. Circular RNAs Are Regulators of Diverse Animal Transcriptomes: One Health Perspective. Front Genet 2020; 11:999. [PMID: 33193584 PMCID: PMC7531264 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Derived from linear (parental) precursor mRNA, circRNA are recycled exons and introns whose ends are ligated. By titrating microRNAs and RNA binding proteins, circRNA interconnect networks of competing endogenous RNAs. Without altering chromosomal DNA, circRNA regulates skeletal muscle development and proliferation, lactation, ovulation, brain development, and responses to infections and metabolic stress. This review integrates emerging knowledge of circRNA activity coming from genome-wide characterizations in many clades of animals. circRNA research addresses one of the main pillars of the One Health vision – to improve the health and productivity of food animals and generate translational knowledge in animal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dora Zucko
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Medicine Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, United States
| | - Kathleen Boris-Lawrie
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Medicine Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, United States
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Jüttner M, Weiß M, Ostheimer N, Reglin C, Kern M, Knüppel R, Ferreira-Cerca S. A versatile cis-acting element reporter system to study the function, maturation and stability of ribosomal RNA mutants in archaea. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:2073-2090. [PMID: 31828323 PMCID: PMC7038931 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz1156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
General molecular principles of ribosome biogenesis have been well explored in bacteria and eukaryotes. Collectively, these studies have revealed important functional differences and few similarities between these processes. Phylogenetic studies suggest that the information processing machineries from archaea and eukaryotes are evolutionary more closely related than their bacterial counterparts. These observations raise the question of how ribosome synthesis in archaea may proceed in vivo. In this study, we describe a versatile plasmid-based cis-acting reporter system allowing to analyze in vivo the consequences of ribosomal RNA mutations in the model archaeon Haloferax volcanii. Applying this system, we provide evidence that the bulge-helix-bulge motif enclosed within the ribosomal RNA processing stems is required for the formation of archaeal-specific circular-pre-rRNA intermediates and mature rRNAs. In addition, we have collected evidences suggesting functional coordination of the early steps of ribosome synthesis in H. volcanii. Together our investigation describes a versatile platform allowing to generate and functionally analyze the fate of diverse rRNA variants, thereby paving the way to better understand the cis-acting molecular determinants necessary for archaeal ribosome synthesis, maturation, stability and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Jüttner
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Weiß
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Nina Ostheimer
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Corinna Reglin
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Michael Kern
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Robert Knüppel
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Sébastien Ferreira-Cerca
- Biochemistry III – Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
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